Do you listen to music while you’re walking? Podcasts? Do you make a phone call to an old friend? Or do you simply listen to the world around you? Making space for the noise of the city, or maybe the quiet of the countryside or the waves of the beach. Birds singing. Maybe, depending where in the country you are, the discord of all these cicadas. For me it’s a little of Column A., a little of Column B. But tell me about what you like to listen to while you walk.
Years ago when I was recovering from A Dark Time, I walked alone for two or three hours every day with my iPod Nano shuffling the same songs over and over. When I hear those songs now, I remember all those steps through a neighborhood I memorized from its sidewalks and I've "retired" a lot of that music because it belongs to that period of my life.
I got a dog a couple of years ago and now he is my walking companion instead of music. I usually don't listen to anything besides the world around us because I swear he can tell if I'm not fully present for our time together (he finds ways of getting my attention), and there's something deeply reassuring about learning the rhythms of where I live and re-experiencing the familiarity on a daily basis.
Walking is my mechanism for sifting through thoughts and anxieties, sort of like sieving things out so they make sense. I don't need to be aware of it at all, I just need to walk. No matter what kind of mood I'm in, by the time I'm halfway through our regular route I can feel everything loosen up and start clicking into place. That doesn't happen as reliably if I'm listening to a podcast or audiobook or music.
Most often a podcast (current favorites are 'Time to Say Goodbye' podcast, or 'Austin Found' about the history of Austin), but sometimes music and sometimes the sounds of the neighborhood. I'm inspired by Walk it Off though and now I want to go listen to other neighborhoods too. With all that said, phone calls to old friends lead to some of my favorite walks. A few weeks ago, my oldest friend and I went on parallel walks from our respective cities and talked the whole time. It was wonderful.
Depends - if I'm walking for exercise, a playlist to distract me from the world and keep me moving. But if I'm just walking to see nature/stretch my legs, I don't usually listen to anything -- and that way I am more alert for the dogs who might be out on a walk and need a good ear-scritching. (I always say hi to the dogs.)
Very occasionally a podcast (most recently Object of Sound, which is awesome) or an audiobook (Brandi Carlile's memoir was great & full of songs), but mostly birdsong. Walking and listening/looking up has turned me (like officially, I've crossed a line) into a birdwatcher. It's bananas how long I just heard birds (generic, all lumped together), and now I can identify some birds by sound, or when I don't know who's singing, I take as much information about the bird I see/hear in and scurry home & look it up in my bird books!
Mostly podcasts, but my last big walk to Land's End culminated in my smoking a joint while I listened to the Olivia Rodrigo album and watched the sunset over the ocean and I cannot recommend it more. Walking will always = sad bastard music, if it's gonna be music.
For me, it depends on the purpose of the walk. Am I walking to clear my head? Might listen to the birds. Am I walking to walk? Might listen to an audiobook to pass the time. Am I walking because I'm frustrated? Might listen to specific music (hello, Dashboard Confessional and The Decemberists). If I'm walking with a friend, it's loud, joyful voices delighted to be together again, accompanied by lots of gesticulations and laughter.
I used to listen to podcasts or music most of the time. Lately though, it's walks with friends and the soundtrack is the chattering of our voices as we catch up on everything. When I walk alone, I've been leaving the earbuds at home. My favorite walk right now is down the creek by my house. I live in a city neighborhood but we're lucky to have a beautiful little (restored) creek just a block away. I listen to the birds (egrets, crows, etc.) and squirrels rustling in the oak trees and let my mind unscramble.
I started listening to music- a "walk playlist"- mellow stuff mostly. I treat my walks as a meditation of sorts. I try to let go of work and the million thoughts spinning in my head and just focus on the music, moving my feet and enjoying the weather and fresh air. I'm usually more relaxed when I finish.
For me, it's podcasts and occasionally music. I like to walk early in the morning and live in a very rural place, so I feel like the voices from the podcasts (no earbuds in the dark mornings!) keep unfriendly critters away.
It depends on my mood. Usually, it’s podcasts but lately it’s been audiobooks. I normally don’t listen to them unless their full-cast productions but I’ve been listening to Mariah Carey’s book and it’s really good. I like to listen to the world around me whenever I walk the Central Park loop.
When I walk the dog first thing in the morning I consciously choose not to listen to anything except the sounds of the world. By the end of the day the inside of my brain is so loud that I need a podcast. I'm just about done bingeing the back catalog of You're Wrong About, which is a GIFT of a podcast.
Usually just the world around me, but I've gotten back into listening to music every now and then. I have a weekly walk while i wait for my kid, and for that one I'm 17 again, stomping past frat houses in my Vans listening to punk on my headphones.
Years ago when I was recovering from A Dark Time, I walked alone for two or three hours every day with my iPod Nano shuffling the same songs over and over. When I hear those songs now, I remember all those steps through a neighborhood I memorized from its sidewalks and I've "retired" a lot of that music because it belongs to that period of my life.
I got a dog a couple of years ago and now he is my walking companion instead of music. I usually don't listen to anything besides the world around us because I swear he can tell if I'm not fully present for our time together (he finds ways of getting my attention), and there's something deeply reassuring about learning the rhythms of where I live and re-experiencing the familiarity on a daily basis.
Walking is my mechanism for sifting through thoughts and anxieties, sort of like sieving things out so they make sense. I don't need to be aware of it at all, I just need to walk. No matter what kind of mood I'm in, by the time I'm halfway through our regular route I can feel everything loosen up and start clicking into place. That doesn't happen as reliably if I'm listening to a podcast or audiobook or music.
Most often a podcast (current favorites are 'Time to Say Goodbye' podcast, or 'Austin Found' about the history of Austin), but sometimes music and sometimes the sounds of the neighborhood. I'm inspired by Walk it Off though and now I want to go listen to other neighborhoods too. With all that said, phone calls to old friends lead to some of my favorite walks. A few weeks ago, my oldest friend and I went on parallel walks from our respective cities and talked the whole time. It was wonderful.
Depends - if I'm walking for exercise, a playlist to distract me from the world and keep me moving. But if I'm just walking to see nature/stretch my legs, I don't usually listen to anything -- and that way I am more alert for the dogs who might be out on a walk and need a good ear-scritching. (I always say hi to the dogs.)
Very occasionally a podcast (most recently Object of Sound, which is awesome) or an audiobook (Brandi Carlile's memoir was great & full of songs), but mostly birdsong. Walking and listening/looking up has turned me (like officially, I've crossed a line) into a birdwatcher. It's bananas how long I just heard birds (generic, all lumped together), and now I can identify some birds by sound, or when I don't know who's singing, I take as much information about the bird I see/hear in and scurry home & look it up in my bird books!
Mostly podcasts, but my last big walk to Land's End culminated in my smoking a joint while I listened to the Olivia Rodrigo album and watched the sunset over the ocean and I cannot recommend it more. Walking will always = sad bastard music, if it's gonna be music.
For me, it depends on the purpose of the walk. Am I walking to clear my head? Might listen to the birds. Am I walking to walk? Might listen to an audiobook to pass the time. Am I walking because I'm frustrated? Might listen to specific music (hello, Dashboard Confessional and The Decemberists). If I'm walking with a friend, it's loud, joyful voices delighted to be together again, accompanied by lots of gesticulations and laughter.
I used to listen to podcasts or music most of the time. Lately though, it's walks with friends and the soundtrack is the chattering of our voices as we catch up on everything. When I walk alone, I've been leaving the earbuds at home. My favorite walk right now is down the creek by my house. I live in a city neighborhood but we're lucky to have a beautiful little (restored) creek just a block away. I listen to the birds (egrets, crows, etc.) and squirrels rustling in the oak trees and let my mind unscramble.
I started listening to music- a "walk playlist"- mellow stuff mostly. I treat my walks as a meditation of sorts. I try to let go of work and the million thoughts spinning in my head and just focus on the music, moving my feet and enjoying the weather and fresh air. I'm usually more relaxed when I finish.
I mostly listen to podcasts or whatever playlist has caught my attention. I like my alone time while walking.
For me, it's podcasts and occasionally music. I like to walk early in the morning and live in a very rural place, so I feel like the voices from the podcasts (no earbuds in the dark mornings!) keep unfriendly critters away.
It depends on my mood. Usually, it’s podcasts but lately it’s been audiobooks. I normally don’t listen to them unless their full-cast productions but I’ve been listening to Mariah Carey’s book and it’s really good. I like to listen to the world around me whenever I walk the Central Park loop.
When I walk the dog first thing in the morning I consciously choose not to listen to anything except the sounds of the world. By the end of the day the inside of my brain is so loud that I need a podcast. I'm just about done bingeing the back catalog of You're Wrong About, which is a GIFT of a podcast.
Usually just the world around me, but I've gotten back into listening to music every now and then. I have a weekly walk while i wait for my kid, and for that one I'm 17 again, stomping past frat houses in my Vans listening to punk on my headphones.